Sounding top spinner



Sept 6 1949- G. PALKl-:N ETAL 2,481,337

SOUNDING TOP SPINNER Filed sept. '9, 1946 z'sheets-sheet 1 f INVENTOR.

NATHAN EINIS GEORGE PALKENI Sept., 6, 1949.

G. PALKEN -ErAL SOUNDING TOP SPINNER Filed sept. 9, 194s 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l JNVENTOR. GEORGE PALKEN BY NATHAN ElNls WA TORNEY ).7

Patented Sept. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES QFFICE SOUNDING TOP SPINNER George Falken and Nathan Einis, Dorchester, Mass.

Application September 9, 1946, Seria'lfNo. 695,.71'2` (Cll. 46--67l 4 Claims. l

The present invention relates to a toy and, more particularly, a toy which combines an imitation gun and a top. The toy may operate pri.- marily for the purpose of spinning the top which forms a part o f it or it may serve both to spin a top and to produce a noise by impact of elements therein.

Besides the novel combination of a gun and a top-spinning toy, the invention resides in the construction of the mechanism and device wherein simple manual operation is provided both in cooking the spring and releasing the same for spinning the top and making the noise in imitation of the discharge of a gun. The present invention is simple, inexpensive in construction, may be readily assembled, and has durable Wearing qualities.

In accordance with the present invention, a trigger manually operated is used both for cooliing the gun or tensioning the spring and for the release thereof. The invention will be more fully described in the specifications below when read in connection with the drawings illustrating an embodiment of the same, in which Fig. 1 shows an elevation of the mechanism with the top in place, Fig.. 2 shows a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, Fig. 3 shows a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 shows a de. tailed section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 shows a view similar to Fig. 3 with the mechanism in a different position of operation; Figs. 6 and 7 are similar to Fig. 5 with the mechanisms in different positions of operation, Fig. 8 shows a detail section taken on the line 8 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 9 sho-ws a further detail of the invention.

In the drawings, the toy gun itself may be Yformed with two substantially similar casing members l and 2, which may be held together by a plurality of stay bolts, such as 3, 3", forming a casing Within which the internal operating mechanism of the toy is contained. The gun may be shaped in the usual fashion of a repeating automatie, with the conventionally shaped barrel 4, handle 5, and trigger member l. Besides this, the gun has externally a latching member '1, whose function and operation will be explained later. A top 8 which has a stem 9 is supported in an opening extending into the gun perpendicular to the axis of the barrel. The top is ejected by proper combined operation of the latcl'iing member l and the trigger 6, while the cooking or tensioning of the spring is accomplished by a reciprocal motion of the trigger ii. This will be evident from the description of the mechanism and operation of the toy.

Mounted longitudinally within the barrel chamber LI is a bar l2 which at the forward end carries a rack L3, Whichis parallel to the rest of the bar. l- 2,. but oiset slightly from the rest of the bar by means of a short angular piece lll, whichv joins rack- I-i3 tothe rest 0f the bar- Rack I3 engages the pinion l5 formedv on the stern 9 of the top and turns the top stem as the rack is moved in the' discharge of the top 8. The bar l2l isV enlarged at its right end` portion I8 which has formed thereinv a longitudinal slot l5 (see Figs. 3, 5, 6;,al1d 7)., which is engaged by the rod H passing through both walls l and 2 of the casing, The rod l1 also serves to pivot the trigger lever 6 with: respect to the walls l` and 2. The end ot. thev bar l2 after the enlarged portion I8 is terminated in an'- angle element i9, to which a helical springV 20 and'l its axially positioned -rod 2l are attached- The spring 20 envelopes at its other end a tube 2 2- riveted to the end of the gun at 23, while the rod! 2|y acts as a guide entering the tube ,il` .indicated at 23'. The spring 23 .is preferably fixed at .the end of the gun Where the tube 22 is held, but this is riot always necessary since the gun is cocked. by compression o f the spring. v2i) and fires by expansion of the spring, so that as long as the spring does not leave the tube 22, it will operate successfully. The bar i2 iS Provided at its bottom edge in the section i8 with a .Series oi spur teeth 24', which .are .engaged by the Single proeeting tooth 26 extending laterally .from the top of the member ,25. The member 25 is pivoted to the trigger lever 6 by means of the pin Z1. The element 25 is shown in detail in Fig. Besides the projecting arm or tooth 2 6, it also has a forward projecting arm 31 serving to release the bar latch, as will be explained, as well as an angular section 28 and 35 forming a connection with the latch 'l which is a part of the member 25;, The member 25 is drawn towards the bar l2 so that the single tooth 2t engages the teeth 24 by means of the spring 39, one of which hooks into the angular section A28` at ,29 While the other end of the spring hoks around the shaft Il at 3l over a sleeve on the Shaft.,

The lever E may be formed of a single piece of steek .bent t0 form a channel having sides 32 33' through which the shaft I'l passes which is pivoted to the casing, At about the middle of the lever 5, there is a perforation through. which is hoeked. one end Qi the Spring 34, the other end of which is fastened to the wall of the gun at the pin 3', .thus drawing the lower end. of the lever 6 to the lett as shown in Fie- 3.. In this manner, the normal position of the trigger lever 6 is that inclined in a forward direction as indicated in Fig. 3.

It should be noted in connection with the description of the member 25 that the inwardly projecting arm 36 rides either in the upper slot 43 or the lower slot 44 in the wall I of the gun. In the upper slot 43 the gun may be cocked by working the trigger back and forth while when the arm 36 rides in the slot 44 the gun is fired. The gun is prevented from being red by means of the latching pawl 39, one end 46 of which engages the teeth 24, while the other end has an arm 38 Which normally, except when iiring, is free from the projecting arm 3l of the member 25. A spring 4I acting between the pawl 39 and the wall 2 holds the pawl up in engagement with the teeth 24. The pawl is provided with a hub element 42 by means of which the pawl yis pivoted to the wall 2 of the frame of the gun.

At the forward end of the gun is a plate 45 against which the end of the bar I2 is shot to produce a loud noise as the top is spun out of the barrel.

The gun is loaded by inserting the stem 9 of the top through the holes 46 and 4l' aligned in the bottom and top of the gun. A spring clip member 48 (Fig. 4) helps toretain the top in position until the winding is begun, by having its end prong 49 pressed against the stem 9 of the top. The loading position is shown approximately invFigs. 3 and 5. VIn this position, the bar I2 is out furthest to the left and the pinion I just begins to engage the rack I3 of the bar I2. Suitable spring members 50, 50 journaled in the walls I and 2 retain the rack I3 in its desired position. Thebar I2 is `forced to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, by pulling the lower end of the trigger 6. The trigger Ii, carrying the member 25, which is pivoted to it, engages in the teeth 24 and as the trigger is rotated counter-clockwise, the bar I2 is pulled backwards against the action of the spring 20. The pawl or latching bar 39 prevents the bar I2 from flying forward when the nger releases the trigger 6.` When the trigger is released, the spring 34 draws the lower end forward or moves the trigger in a clockwise direction, so that it may be pulled backward again, pulling the bar I2 back still further. About three reciprocal motionsof the trigger 6 will completely load the gun or draw the bar I2 back to compress the spring 20 to its fullest extent. During this motion, the safetylatch or latch 'I is in the position indicated in Fig. Y1 with the projectingmember 36 riding in the upper slot 43. When, however, the latching member 'I is pressed downward or rotated about its pivoting point 2li, the tooth or" projecting arm 26 is withdrawn from the row of teeth 24 and instead the projecting element 31 is brought up beneath the projecting arm 38 of the pawl or latch 39. The pin 36 in this position rides in the slot 44 and the member 25 is inclined upwards at an angle, bringing the projecting arm 37 just beneath the arm or bar 38. In this position, when the trigger 6 is pulled or turned counter-clockwise, the projecting arm 31 engages the underside of the arm 38, pushing it upwards, the backward movement of the arm 31 thereby releasing the engaging end 40 of the pawl from the teeth 24. Since nothing further holds the arm I2 in this position, the spring 20 will force it forward as shown in Fig. 7, thus spinning the top and causing it to drop out of the gun while spinning. At the same time, the

4 contact of the end of the bar I 2 with the plate 45 makes an impact similar to that of an explosive cap. Any other type of noise may, of course, be made if desired in a similar fashion.

The gun may be carried around loaded by retracting the bar I2 by moving the trigger 6 back and forth and then permitting the latch 'I to remain in a horizontal position in which the pin or arm 36 is engaged inthe upper slot 43. Since all of the operating mechanism for the gun is covered and enclosed, there is no danger in any Way for a child to get his hands caught either in the gun mechanism or in the gun hammer, since these elements or the equivalent thereof are entirely enclosed within the casing of the gun itself.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. In a toyof the-type described for spinning a top, said toy having the form of a gun with an elongated barrel, a bar having a rack member at one end positioned in said barrel and adapted to be moved longitudinally in respect thereto, spring means operating with and against the bar, a trigger member having a iixed pivot with reference to said gun, a second member pivoted to said trigger member having an extending arm engaging teeth associated with said bar, a pawl normally engaging said teeth for holding said bar against the action of the spring and means for manual adjustment of said second member whereby when said trigger is pulled the pawl restraining the bar is removed Yfrom engagement with the teeth and the bar released.

2. In a toy of the type described for spinning a top, said toy having the form of a gun with an elongated barrel, a" bar having a rack member at one end positionedY in said barrel and adapted to be moved longitudinally in respect thereto, spring means operating with and against the bar, a trigger member having a fixed pivot with reference to said gun, a second member pivoted to said trigger member having an extending arm engaging teeth associated with said bar, a pawl normally engaging said teeth for holding said bar against the action of the spring, and means for manual adjustment of said second member whereby when said trigger is pulled 'the pawl restraining the bar is removed from engagement with the teeth and the bar released, said second member having a projecting arm engaging one of two connected slots in said casing, engagement in one slot permitting retracting of said bar,` and in the other slot, release of said bar. A

3. In a toy of the type described having the form of a gun with a loading operation and a discharging operation for spinning a top, a bar having a rack on a portion of its face, a top inserted in the gun to engage the rack for spinning, means mounting the bar to m'ove longitudinally in the barrel of the gun, a spring mounted to act against one end of the ban-said bar having a series of teeth, a pawl positioned to engage the teeth to permit retraction of the bar against the spring and to restrain said bar from movement in the opposite direction; a pivoted trigger, a coupling cam pivoted with said trigger, means for positioning said cam in one of two positions, the rst coupling the trigger with the teeth in the bar for retracting the same -against the spring when the trigger is operated in the loading operation and the second for disengaging the pawl when the trigger is operated in the discharging operation.

4. A toy of the type described having the form of a gun with a loading operation and a discharging operation for simultaneously spinning a top and making a noise comprising a bar having a rack on a portion of its face, a bracket across the end of the gun within the barrel against which the bar strikes, a top inserted in the barrel engaging the rack and adapted to spin When the bar is impelled against the bracket, means mounting the bar to move longitudinally in the barrel of the gun, a spring mounted to act against one end of the bar, said bar having a series of teeth, a pawl positioned to enga-ge the teeth to permit retraction of the bar against the spring and to restrain said bar from movement in the opposite direction, a pivoted trigger, a coupling cam pivoted with said trigger, means for positioning said cam in one of two positions, the rst coupling the trigger with the teeth in the bar for retracting the same against the spring When the trigger is operated in the loading operation and the second for 6 disengaging the pawl when the trigger is operated in the discharging operation.

GEORGE PALKEN. NATHAN EINIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

